MELBOURNE: Fourth seed Elina Svitolina stormed into the Australian Open second round with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Serbian qualifier Ivana Jorovic on Monday.
The Ukrainian only stuttered slightly once the finish line was in sight, squandering four match points at 5-2 before closing out when a powerful forehand drive forced her opponent to hit wide after 72 minutes.
She will next face Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic who overcame Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.
Svitolina came into the first Grand Slam of the year in top form after winning the Brisbane International warm-up event after picking up five WTA Tour titles last year, more than any other woman.
And she will fancy her chances of picking up a first career Grand Slam title after her half of the draw saw a slew of top names go out on a calamitous day for America's top women in Melbourne.
Fifth seed Venus Williams, 10th seed CoCo Vandeweghe and 13th seed and reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens all made early exits.
